Dear Esther

Show of hands for those with mental health issues which make this game difficult to play? I finally got around to writing something like a review and I realized that the reason I'm so reluctant to replay is it worsens my depression. Though perhaps, show of hands for those that felt like Dear Esther expressed/helped them cope with a part of their mental health issues?

Bless your heart AutopsyBlue. I can see how this game would be difficult for those with depression. I think the story so eloquently expresses the characters struggle, that it increases the players compassion for our brothers and sisters living with depression. I also think, and hope, that it increases understanding, and decreases the stigma of this very human illness.

Ironically when I'm depressed this is exacly the kind of game I like to play at least in terms of tone and mood. Comedies, trendy shows or mundane dramas usually will irritate me and make me feel dead inside unless maybe they were made 30-40 years ago. Come to think of it a lot of stuff made in the last decade strikes me as very manipulative and pushy when it comes to issues. I'd rather something like The 39 Steps, which is just a great story, well presented and of course with a slower more melancholy pace.

Ironically when I'm depressed this is exacly the kind of game I like to play at least in terms of tone and mood. Comedies, trendy shows or mundane dramas usually will irritate me and make me feel dead inside unless maybe they were made 30-40 years ago. Come to think of it a lot of stuff made in the last decade strikes me as very manipulative and pushy when it comes to issues. I'd rather something like The 39 Steps, which is just a great story, well presented and of course with a slower more melancholy pace.

I get that, I think. I tend to seek out a sad stories and such because I often lock up my negative feelings, but Dear Esther never really offered an emotional release for me. It just kinda felt like rolling around in my own suffocating ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥t. Searching for an external valve is often hit-or-miss so yeah, something more engaging to take my mind off things but doesn't put stress on me is generally what I go for.

I get that, I think. I tend to seek out a sad stories and such because I often lock up my negative feelings, but Dear Esther never really offered an emotional release for me. It just kinda felt like rolling around in my own suffocating ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥t. Searching for an external valve is often hit-or-miss so yeah, something more engaging to take my mind off things but doesn't put stress on me is generally what I go for.

What do you mean by manipulative, exactly?

Autopsy When did you first notice your depression had set in?

have you suffered deaths in your family, if so at what age and what relation.

May I ask your age.

Are you Sociable or do you prefer time on your own in a room?

That's an awful lot of personal questions. It may not surprise you that I'm not gonna answer any of them.

To doubt me is fine, but please be aware; Locking yourself away in your mind, keeping your despair and misery to yourself will only heighten the problem. You need to release and the best way to do this is through family or professional help.

Aaand this is why people with mental health issues don't talk about them in public. Stop patting me on the head. Stop lecturing me on my health. Stop prying into my personal life, GDI. I did not come here asking for help. I came here asking if other people shared my experience. I shared a small sliver of personal information and suddenly everything else I have to say goes out the window.

tl;drGO AWAY. I DON'T LIKE YOU. I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU. YOU'RE NOT HELPING.

To doubt me is fine, but please be aware; Locking yourself away in your mind, keeping your despair and misery to yourself will only heighten the problem. You need to release and the best way to do this is through family or professional help.

Aaand this is why people with mental health issues don't talk about them in public. Stop patting me on the head. Stop lecturing me on my health. Stop prying into my personal life, GDI. I did not come here asking for help. I came here asking if other people shared my experience. I shared a small sliver of personal information and suddenly everything else I have to say goes out the window.

tl;drGO AWAY. I DON'T LIKE YOU. I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU. YOU'RE NOT HELPING.

Don't feed the troll.

Anyway, it's definitely a game that must be played under certain mood, like the sad songs we usually listen when something bad happen, it's a way to "hurt and reliefe" ourself in an almost harmless way, but i can't speak for serious mind illness, i think everyone will react in a different way. By my side it changed something inside of me, and i'm usually cheerfull persone, sometimes blackened by some short times of deep sadness, but nothing too serious.After Dear Esther i find myself crying at touching events as even't happen before.It makes me feel more "human" in some way.

Aaand this is why people with mental health issues don't talk about them in public. Stop patting me on the head. Stop lecturing me on my health. Stop prying into my personal life, GDI. I did not come here asking for help. I came here asking if other people shared my experience. I shared a small sliver of personal information and suddenly everything else I have to say goes out the window.

tl;drGO AWAY. I DON'T LIKE YOU. I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU. YOU'RE NOT HELPING.

Don't feed the troll.

Anyway, it's definitely a game that must be played under certain mood, like the sad songs we usually listen when something bad happen, it's a way to "hurt and reliefe" ourself in an almost harmless way, but i can't speak for serious mind illness, i think everyone will react in a different way. By my side it changed something inside of me, and i'm usually cheerfull persone, sometimes blackened by some short times of deep sadness, but nothing too serious.After Dear Esther i find myself crying at touching events as even't happen before.It makes me feel more "human" in some way.

Aha I wish it were that simple. The way they changed tatics so quickly reminded me pretty strongly of the way people who are loosing arguments with me suddenly try to dig into my personal life. 1. I don't think that's okay and 2. experience has taught me that shutting up and waiting for them to go away does far more damage to me than to them. That's actually the way people control spaces: pee on the corners of their teritory and throw punches at anyone who doesn't behave the way they want them to, whether it's a forum moderator or a drunk [stupid person] on the subway. I don't want [stupid people] to be able to harrass people for what they reveal in this thread, and I wanted everyone who reads it to know that.

Now that I've peed in that particular corner, does Steam take "off topic" as a reason to flag posts?

If you don't mind me asking, do you have depression? What do you consider serious mental illness?

Anyway, it's definitely a game that must be played under certain mood, like the sad songs we usually listen when something bad happen, it's a way to "hurt and reliefe" ourself in an almost harmless way, but i can't speak for serious mind illness, i think everyone will react in a different way. By my side it changed something inside of me, and i'm usually cheerfull persone, sometimes blackened by some short times of deep sadness, but nothing too serious.After Dear Esther i find myself crying at touching events as even't happen before.It makes me feel more "human" in some way.

Aha I wish it were that simple. The way they changed tatics so quickly reminded me pretty strongly of the way people who are loosing arguments with me suddenly try to dig into my personal life. 1. I don't think that's okay and 2. experience has taught me that shutting up and waiting for them to go away does far more damage to me than to them. That's actually the way people control spaces: pee on the corners of their teritory and throw punches at anyone who doesn't behave the way they want them to, whether it's a forum moderator or a drunk [stupid person] on the subway. I don't want [stupid people] to be able to harrass people for what they reveal in this thread, and I wanted everyone who reads it to know that.

Now that I've peed in that particular corner, does Steam take "off topic" as a reason to flag posts?

If you don't mind me asking, do you have depression? What do you consider serious mental illness?

Nope, lucky me even if i've passed some real bad times years ago dues a love story goes wrong and the worst working condition with almost three years at home whitout work and a car almost wrecked to repair :DBut i made out of it in some way and now i'm the usual shiny guy who sometimes fell in despair for a couple of hour in a blink of an eye for something that may happen. But i don't think i'm depressed because it happen very rarely.I don't know what i can call "serious" but schyzofrenia (i don't know if it's spelled correct, english ins't my first language) i think fall right into the serious mind illness. In some ways depression i think can be considered a mind illness by the way it works and that can be threated most of the time.Well, a game like Esther maybe can't help who alredy have suicide tendencies or such, but strangley someone can find releaf in it's greef and depressed mood to rise up and change something in his life. I say that it changed something into me the first time i played it, even if i can't tell what, but i found me crying at the ending scene whitout even knowing well what happened, the second time i had bigger attention to the details and the lines and i got some other pieces of the story. That lead in more tears at the end when i realized what (i think) happened :DAfter all, i think it's a game that need to be played in the "right" mood, like a good horror movie or an "emotional" music album.